Adding to the Flock

Model Railroad Discipleship

Model railroading is often depicted as. Number of elderly gentlemen carrying out modeling functions they have learned over years of modeling. There is a desire to bring along youngsters to grow the hobby.

It is not unlike many churches attempting to disciple new followers.

When you bring someone to Christ, it is not by cramming the entire Bible into them in on sitting.

You can learn a lot from the discipleship of Jesus Christ who worked with groups ranging from one or two to thousands at a time.

We aren't out to change the lives of model railroading beginners but there are does and don'ts that are similar for both teaching efforts.

• Men should disciple men, and women should disciple women. I know it sounds old fashioned but this is the best way. You can get into a lot of trouble teaching members of the opposite sex outside of marriage.
• If you are under 21 years of age, only work with people your own age.
• If you are over 21 and not in the same area as the person you would like to disciple, you have two options: (1) build a relationship long distance by e-mail, Facebook, or telephone. And use model railroading materials, as they are designed to help you.
• Be a real friend. Make yourself available. Meet with them once a week or twice a month to share techniques, research modeling ideas mixed with a little teaching and by all means, just hang out.
• Don't act like you are the super modeler. Don't be condescending or think you know it all. You don't. Lift them up. Be encouraging. Be positive. Be an encouraging force in their life.
• Don't do this out of obligation. If you have this attitude, you are better off playing golf or doing something else.
• This is not a sprint, it is a marathon. It is going to take time. So don't be in a hurry. It can take as much as a couple of years. But it will be worth it.

Using A Needle To Make It Stick

All modeling, sooner or later, boils down to your ability to stick one thing to another and working with wood is probably one of the most important whether you are gluing strips under stress (curved hull planks in ship modeling) or putting together two walls at a right angle.

For my money the best adhesive for wood applications is Carpenter’s Glue and certainly one of the best is LePage’s with a lineage of over 130 years dating back to its invention in Gloucester, MA by William N. LePage, a 19th century “Captain of Industry” who also invented the holster.

Both LePage’s and Elmer’s produce a carpenter’s glue with clear advantages over the more chemical intense Cyanoacrylates, epoxies and ‘Super Glues”.

• They are excellent for wood to wood applications,
• They dry hard and quickly
• They are good glues for joints that don’t fit tightly

Carpenter’s glues also work well when using a syringe as an applicator which allows you to apply your adhesive with much more accuracy because of the fine tip of the needle and the minute amount of liquid dispensed.

If you take the time to clean the needle after each use (with carpenters glue just run some warm water through it) you can easily get three or four months use out of the needle. Needles are available in boxes of 50 for about $7 in most drugstores.

Incidentally, if you are gluing with a syringe, there is no need to squirt it up in the air to clear air bubbles.

You can take one more step to prevent them from clogging, store them point down on a piece of wet sponge.

Virtual Research Without Leaving Your Desk

I remember 20 or 30 years ago when "Train Spotting" was the thing that set model railroaders all a twitter and for many of them, it was an adventure to sit by an outlying section of track with an interesting physical feature and wait for a train to enter the scene for a quick 5-10 photos.

Who could have imagined that a couple of decades later "Ship Spotting" would bring ship modelers from all over the world right to the dock where their revered original is tied up.
All without leaving their desk!

All aboard! Google Earth is moving again. This time its Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro where we settle in on the Sao Paulo Aircraft Carrier and a quartet of destroyers.

These airborne "sightseers can drop in unannounced over military vessels just as well as civilian craft.
As a research tool, Google Earth and its competing earth mappers can almost take you aboard a ship about anywhere in the world where you can actually see the physical details up close and personal without leaving your desk.

So how do you locate all of these vessels? You have to tell Google Earth where to go.

This takes a visit to www.shipspotters.com, an active database of 327,175 photos of ships anywhere in the world.

What a tool.

For instance, drop in on the Sea Shadow's dock in San Diego. 10 years ago, this was a pretty hush hush Navy project, but she'd make an interesting scale model today. . Revell has one.

Sea Shadow was built in 1985 and used in secret but in normal service until its public debut in 1994, to examine the application of stealth technology on naval vessels. In addition, the ship would test the ability to man a ship with fewer men and more automation..

The ship was created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Navy and Lockheed. Sea Shadow was developed at Lockheed's Redwood City, California facility, inside the Hughes Mining Barge, which functioned as a floating drydock during construction and testing. She is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "USS Sea Shadow," but she was never a full commissioned ship of the US Navy.

Google Earth and Microsoft's Virtual Earth provide about the same resolution and similar mapping databases. They are both in BETA form and downloadable at no cost to the user.
Get one and explore the world.

Wrap Up Your Mess

Ever have problems with paints sticking to their lids? I find that enamels and acrylics both make a mess around the rim after opening.
I keep a roll of clear plastic wrap at my modeling bench. After opening a jar, clean the inside of the top and then reseal the cap with a piece of plastic wrap underneath.

Now, you can shake it all you want, and the plastic keeps the lid clean. Just toss the wrap away when you reopen the bottle, then wipe any residue from the lip of the jar.

Your Help and Ideas NeededTo Expand SMH Idea Base

Making daily decisions involving
www.scale-modelers-handbook.com
for the past 62 months has led to the creation of over 425 pages of articles on the various facets of scale modeling, this monthly e-zine and a host of modeling questions answered.

As we get ready to embark on our fifth year, I am hoping to open the site up to input from other scale modelers. You may have noticed the Navigation Bar has been sub-divided into the major hobbies covered.

Each of these sections now has one or two pages that invite participation with questions, tips and pictures regarding your various modeling endeavors.

We want to hear from you as do the other 25,000 modelers who log onto this site monthly.

As I get ready to roll into my 74th year, I can’t believe how much I have learned about hobby activities In the past two years. I have heard from other modelers with similar experiences.

To help me develop and maintain
my website
your comments on its content are essential. You can send me your comments by visiting the “Voice Your Opinion” feature at the top of the Navigation stack in the left column on each page.

It was never my intention to make this website a one way street as my knowledge is no where deep enough for me to be termed an “Authority”. I hunger for your feedback, comments, ideas, tutorials, plans, pictures and even your negative comments if considered constructive.

The Internet and that includes
www.scale-modelers-handbook.com
work best when they are interactive and that is collaboration only you can provide.
It has been a pleasure serving as your guide for these past two years and by no means am I throwing in the towel, for I honestly believe the building and maintaining of this website are instrumental in keeping my mind active.

I want to open up this site in the fast lane. That is your part of the two-way street.

Its In Your Best Interest

If you have been giving some thought to launching your own home business in 2010, it is worth your time to take a look at what I found: